Boardman fs pro or canyon spectral 6.0

muddpuppy

As above which one would you have.
Was originally going to have the spectral but now I've saved enough where with the discounts I can afford the boardman.
Should I carry on saving for the spectral or go for the boardman.
Is the canyon worth the extra money over the boardman.

poah

save for the canyon

rockmonkeysc

Get a 2013 Giant Trance instead. Better than both and there's some great bargains if you shop around.

muddpuppy

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Get a 2013 Giant Trance instead. Better than both and there's some great bargains if you shop around.

What makes this a better bike ?

rockmonkeysc

An excellent frame. Extremely efficient rear suspension. I think it's the best light, short travel trail bike I have ridden by a long way.
The Boardman 650b fs isn't a great ride, it's ok but not great. Boardman just didn't get the geometry quite right.
The Canyon rear suspension is too linear. It's fine until you start pushing hard and then it just wallows and blows through its travel.

mattham

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I think it's the best light, short travel trail bike I have ridden by a long way.

I know they are bikes for slightly different uses, but as they are both light, short travel bikes, how do you rate the Trance in comparison to an Anthem? Is one too much of a compromise than the other?

muddpuppy

MattHam wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I think it's the best light, short travel trail bike I have ridden by a long way.

I know they are bikes for slightly different uses, but as they are both light, short travel bikes, how do you rate the Trance in comparison to an Anthem? Is one too much of a compromise than the other?

Thanks for hijacking my thread

rockmonkeysc

I have owned the Trance and Anthem. Very similar bikes. Both are excellent.
I wouldn't buy the 2014 Trance though because of the rubbish forks and weird headset size.

mattham

muddpuppy wrote:

Thanks for hijacking my thread

Bit harsh, Rockmonkey made a comparison to light and short travel machines, I'm interested why he connected that to a Trance rather than an Anthem which is to me the very definition of this type of bike.

For what its worth, both the Boardman and the Spectral feature in the WMB trail bike of the year top 25, the Spectral in its top spec £2700 guise came 3rd overall but they warned about getting the sizing right as their is a danger of it feeling a bit like a bmx.

muddpuppy

MattHam wrote:

muddpuppy wrote:

Thanks for hijacking my thread

Bit harsh, Rockmonkey made a comparison to light and short travel machines, I'm interested why he connected that to a Trance rather than an Anthem which is to me the very definition of this type of bike.

For what its worth, both the Boardman and the Spectral feature in the WMB trail bike of the year top 25, the Spectral in its top spec £2700 guise came 3rd overall but they warned about getting the sizing right as their is a danger of it feeling a bit like a bmx.

Not really harsh it isn't rocket science to start a thread. Anyways back to the original question not interested in giants with the discounts the boardman comes in at roughly £300 less than the spectral is the spectral worth saving the extra for as for sizing I'm around the 6 foot mark and there website sizing suggests a large having not had a mountain bike in about 15 years would I really notice any difference in the size.

adamfo

RockmonkeySC wrote:

The Canyon rear suspension is too linear. It's fine until you start pushing hard and then it just wallows and blows through its travel.

Where have you seen the Spectral 6.0 tested ?

gazcarsf1

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Get a 2013 Giant Trance instead. Better than both and there's some great bargains if you shop around.

When u say the trance is better than both, I take it you have tried all 3 bikes then!!!!

poah

adamfo wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

The Canyon rear suspension is too linear. It's fine until you start pushing hard and then it just wallows and blows through its travel.

Where have you seen the Spectral 6.0 tested ?

maybe he has ridden one extensively?

adamfo

POAH wrote:

adamfo wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

The Canyon rear suspension is too linear. It's fine until you start pushing hard and then it just wallows and blows through its travel.

Where have you seen the Spectral 6.0 tested ?

maybe he has ridden one extensively?

Doubt it.

I don't think the 6.0 has been tested yet. The 8.0 was the group test winner here

http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... 7212.2.htm

http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... latt.2.htm

rockmonkeysc

I have ridden one for a day. Very unimpressed. Lots of top spec kit bolted to a flexy frame with wallowy rear suspension.

adamfo

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I have ridden one for a day. Very unimpressed. Lots of top spec kit bolted to a flexy frame with wallowy rear suspension.

There is no top kit on the Spectral 6.0, it's the bottom of the range model !

Flexy frame ? The Spectral frame ranked no.2 in headset stiffness Nm and bottom bracket deflection
in Bike magazine.

Are you sure it wasn't a Strive you rode ?

rockmonkeysc

No a Spectral. It might have been a higher spec than the 6. The flex was from the rear triangle. It definitely flexes more than any of the full sus xc bikes I have owned.

Angus Young

muddpuppy wrote:

Not really harsh it

Yes, quite harsh. Like a child snatching his toy back.

Angus Young

RockmonkeySC wrote:

The Boardman 650b fs isn't a great ride, it's ok but not great. Boardman just didn't get the geometry quite right.

You need to phone up What Mountain Bike and tell them they made a terrible mistake when they gave the Pro four and a half stars out of five and praised the ride and handling.

gazcarsf1

RockmonkeySC wrote:

No a Spectral. It might have been a higher spec than the 6. The flex was from the rear triangle. It definitely flexes more than any of the full sus xc bikes I have owned.

Not seen any comments on a flexi chassis in any of the tests so far, in fact in this one the quote is "compact and stiff chassis" maybe the testers are wrong, you never know!!!!

http://www.puremountains.com/sites/default/files/roc_dazur.pdf

adamfo

RockmonkeySC wrote:

No a Spectral. It might have been a higher spec than the 6. The flex was from the rear triangle. It definitely flexes more than any of the full sus xc bikes I have owned.

There must of been a lose bolt. Some of team Canyon are riding unmodified frames including Fabien Barel who had a say in the bikes development.

No mention of flex in the Pinkbike test done in the States

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Canyon-Spe ... iewed.html

muddpuppy

Gazcarsf1 wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

No a Spectral. It might have been a higher spec than the 6. The flex was from the rear triangle. It definitely flexes more than any of the full sus xc bikes I have owned.

Not seen any comments on a flexi chassis in any of the tests so far, in fact in this one the quote is "compact and stiff chassis" maybe the testers are wrong, you never know!!!!

http://www.puremountains.com/sites/default/files/roc_dazur.pdf

Just been looking at your spectral think I'll carry on saving a bit longer to get the 6.0 I think impatience of saving for so long is just sending me a bit mental and the boardman does look gvfm.

Kowalski675

Angus Young wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

The Boardman 650b fs isn't a great ride, it's ok but not great. Boardman just didn't get the geometry quite right.

You need to phone up What Mountain Bike and tell them they made a terrible mistake when they gave the Pro four and a half stars out of five and praised the ride and handling.

Yup, the reviews certainly don't agree with our resident expert.

Kowalski675

adamfo wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

No a Spectral. It might have been a higher spec than the 6. The flex was from the rear triangle. It definitely flexes more than any of the full sus xc bikes I have owned.

There must have been a lose bolt. Some of team Canyon are riding unmodified frames including Fabien Barel who had a say in the bikes development.

No mention of flex in the Pinkbike test done in the States

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Canyon-Spe ... iewed.html

Maybe none of them ride quite as hard as Rockmonkey does...

rockmonkeysc

adamfo wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

No a Spectral. It might have been a higher spec than the 6. The flex was from the rear triangle. It definitely flexes more than any of the full sus xc bikes I have owned.

There must have been a lose bolt. Some of team Canyon are riding unmodified frames including Fabien Barel who had a say in the bikes development.

No mention of flex in the Pinkbike test done in the States

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Canyon-Spe ... iewed.html

Does Fabien Barell race a Spectral? Just because his race bike is ok does that mean every Canyon frame is great?
Im not too convinced by Pinkbikes tests. They didn't mention the ropey shock tune on the Nukeproof Mega TR but it's a well known issue and mine certainly needs revalving to give it more mid stroke compression.

muddpuppy

Kowalski675 wrote:

adamfo wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

No a Spectral. It might have been a higher spec than the 6. The flex was from the rear triangle. It definitely flexes more than any of the full sus xc bikes I have owned.

There must have been a lose bolt. Some of team Canyon are riding unmodified frames including Fabien Barel who had a say in the bikes development.

No mention of flex in the Pinkbike test done in the States

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Canyon-Spe ... iewed.html

Maybe none of them ride quite as hard as Rockmonkey does...

Hi kowalski I see you have last years fs do you rate it as good as the reviewers have

Kowalski675

muddpuppy wrote:

Hi kowalski I see you have last years fs do you rate it as good as the reviewers have

Hiya. You have to bear in mind that I'm coming from the perspective of a newbie rider avec nil mad skillz, but I love mine, and couldn't have got anything as capable for what I paid for it. It's not been without teething problems, but they were mainly down to assembly and PDI - if you buy a Boardman I'd recommend taking it boxed and assembling it yourself.

Does it ride as well as the bikes costing £2500 to £3250 I've ridden? No, it doesn't. Does it ride bloody well, and far better than a bike costing £850 has any right to? Damn right it does. The new FS Pro 650b should be a bloody good bike, has a superb spec for the price, and if you buy it with the clever discount tricks it's an absolute bargain. I've not ridden one, but had a play on one round my local Halfords shop floor, and it felt very much like mine, but with substantially plusher suspension and better brakes (4 pot Elixir trails). It made me wish I'd waited a bit longer before buying, but then I would've missed out on a summer of fun rides on my Team FS. Looks like they've addressed the complaints (from some quarters) about flex in the rear triangle on the old 26" model like mine too.

If you want to read about mine:

viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=12929894

muddpuppy

Kowalski675 wrote:

muddpuppy wrote:

Hi kowalski I see you have last years fs do you rate it as good as the reviewers have

Hiya. You have to bear in mind that I'm coming from the perspective of a newbie rider avec nil mad skillz, but I love mine, and couldn't have got anything as capable for what I paid for it. It's not been without teething problems, but they were mainly down to assembly and PDI - if you buy a Boardman I'd recommend taking it boxed and assembling it yourself.

Does it ride as well as the bikes costing £2500 to £3250 I've ridden? No, it doesn't. Does it ride bloody well, and far better than a bike costing £850 has any right to? Damn right it does. The new FS Pro 650b should be a bloody good bike, has a superb spec for the price, and if you buy it with the clever discount tricks it's an absolute bargain. I've not ridden one, but had a play on one round my local Halfords shop floor, and it felt very much like mine, but with substantially plusher suspension and better brakes (4 pot Elixir trails). It made me wish I'd waited a bit longer before buying, but then I would've missed out on a summer of fun rides on my Team FS. Looks like they've addressed the complaints (from some quarters) about flex in the rear triangle on the old 26" model like mine too.

If you want to read about mine:

viewtopic.php?f=10017&t=12929894

Having just read your thead it worrys me as I have zero knowledge of how to put the bike together boxed but also wouldn't trust halfords to do the job. When it comes boxed do you have to fit all the parts and do all the adjustments?ie:gears,brakes or does it come part built. Think ill have a look for basic maintainence tips on youtube.

Kowalski675

muddpuppy wrote:

Having just read your thead it worrys me as I have zero knowledge of how to put the bike together boxed but also wouldn't trust halfords to do the job. When it comes boxed do you have to fit all the parts and do all the adjustments?ie:gears,brakes or does it come part built. Think ill have a look for basic maintainence tips on youtube.

It comes pretty much built, I believe - you just need to do things like straighten the bars, fit front wheel and pedals (the OE pedals are shite anyway, and you'll be wanting to replace them asap), adjust your lever positions, centre the brakes etc, maybe fine tune the gear indexing. All simple stuff that you'll need to learn to do for basic routine maintenance anyway (and can be done with a couple of simple tools - mainly a couple of allen keys). You can get numerous books on the subject (Haynes do a good one, for example), or there's all the info you need on Parktools website, or any number of Youtube tutorials. The Boardman has a 2x10 transmission, which is a doddle to set up anyway (much less fannying about than a 3 ring). Even fully rebuilding mine after the warranty frame swap only took a couple of hours, at a leisurely pace, while partly watching telly and cleaning greasy paw prints off the carpet where Isis had stepped in my pre greased bottom bracket and then had a wander around. It's all simple stuff - if you can change the wheel on your car or assemble flat pack furniture it's easily within your abilities.

There may be someone at your locla Halfords who's competent, but after my experiences of buying two bikes from them (two different branches) I wouldn't let them near another one - I certainly wasn't going to trust them to do the rebuild onto the new frame, when you're dealing with people who can't even fit a pair of pedals without ruining brand new cranks... :roll:

muddpuppy

Kowalski675 wrote:

muddpuppy wrote:

There may be someone at your locla Halfords who's competent, but after my experiences of buying two bikes from them (two different branches) I wouldn't let them near another one - I certainly wasn't going to trust them to do the rebuild onto the new frame, when you're dealing with people who can't even fit a pair of pedals without ruining brand new cranks... :roll:

Just gotta decide now whether to wait longer and keep saving or part with my well earned and get riding. Thanks for the great advice on the boardman greatly appreciated. Think I'll have to find a Halfords that have one on display so I can get a feel of it.

Kowalski675

My local branch were only too happy to order one in for me to look at and have a bounce on (practically insisted on it, lol). They hadn't been allocated one as stock, so an "order" for one meant they could get it in and then keep it as stock if I didn't want it.